Page:The Tattooed Countess (1924).pdf/181

 there was. . . well, I don't know how to put it. . . . It was different, that's all, from the life I have been accustomed to. It was probably my fault. . . . Suddenly, she burst out: It's because of that boy, Lou; what was his name—the boy Lennie Colman brought to our box?

It was impossible for her to keep these words from passing her lips. She could not forgo the pleasure of hearing his name uttered again.

Gareth Johns!

Yes, that's it: Gareth Johns. Lou, he is the first person I've met since I've been here who has showed any interest in me. O, I love you, Lou, and it's nice to be home again, but I'm tired of the creatures asking me how I like the water-works and the new depot!

Lou appeared to be rather chagrined and a little puzzled.

You ought not to mind that, Ella, she said quietly, after a moment. I suppose, she added, it's really on account of their diffidence. They are shy with you. They don't know what to say.

The Countess was in no mood to continue this discussion. I don't mind, Lou, I don't mind at all, especially now, she hastened to explain.

Now that you've opened the subject, Ella, I can speak of something that would, perhaps, have been difficult otherwise: You asked him to call?

Yes.

But I scarcely know his mother, and isn't